Northern Territory teachers vote on latest enterprise offer

Teachers from across the Northern Territory have begun voting on the Government's latest enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA).

It is the second time the offer has gone to a formal vote, and last time, teachers voted overwhelmingly to reject it.

This time, it will be an electronic ballot that can be lodged over the phone or internet.

The ballot closes on Thursday week.

The Northern Territory Government is urging Territory teachers to ignore the advice of the Education Union, and vote to accept the Government's offer.

Teachers will vote for or against the EBA for the second time, after previously rejecting it.

Public Employment Minister John Elferink says teachers should accept the offer because it will mean a pay rise.

He says the agreement will lead to six-figure salaries for more than half of the Territory's teachers.

"What we as a government are saying to the teaching staff out there is vote. Don't listen to your union; your union has been in disarray," he said.

The Northern Territory branch of the Australian Education Union is urging teachers to reject the Government's proposal.

The union's Stephen Pelizzo says teachers are holding out on signing the EBA because they want better conditions.

"Teachers have got a vision that there are more important things than money, that the children that we teach, how we teach, their colleagues - those things are important, and central to their enterprise bargaining agreement," he said.

The Territory Opposition says the pay rise will not fix failures in the education system.

Labor's Natasha Fyles says that offer shows the Government still is not listening.

"It's more than just a pay rise. Teachers have been telling the Government for months now that this dispute is about the change to education system," she said.

"We saw 130 support staff and teachers axed last year and we will see more with the budget cuts that this Government will put in place after July 1st."